Charlie Crist Rolling In Democratic Cash
The share of donors to Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign who previously had given to Democratic candidates multiplied substantially since he left the GOP to run as an independent for the US Senate. An Associated Press analysis shows that donors who previously had contributed to the 2008 Obama campaign made up almost 10 percent of the individual contributors to Crist's campaign in the second quarter of this year. A poll released last month showed Crist slightly ahead of Rubio in a three-way general election matchup, with the Democratic contenders U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and billionaire businessman Jeff Greene trailing.

On that note, the St. Petersburg Times reports that Democratic pollster and former Hillary Clinton senior adviser Mark Penn and his wife, Nancy Jacobson, are hosting a $4,800-per-person fundraising reception for Charlie Crist at their Washington home Wednesday. Here's the invitation (pdf).

In Illinois, Mark Kirk Alters His Gun Stance
The Chicago Tribune reports that Mark Kirk, the Republican candidate for the US Senate seat once held by Barack Obama, has an evolving view on gun laws.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk said Monday that he supports the Supreme Court decision that effectively knocked down Chicago's handgun ban.

The five-term congressman has favored several gun-control laws during his career representing the North Shore. But as Kirk runs statewide for the first time, downstate voters who generally support greater Second Amendment rights are keeping tabs on politicians' stances on gun control.

Kirk's comments, made after a foreign policy speech, come as the Chicago City Council recently enacted new gun-control measures in an effort to thread the needle between keeping guns off the streets and abiding by the court ruling this summer that gutted the city's longtime handgun ban.

After the discussion before the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Kirk said he supports the "Heller decision." That is a 2008 ruling that struck down the District of Columbia's handgun ban and was used by the court in cutting down Chicago's law.

Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias opposes the Heller ruling.

Colorado GOP Senate Primary
While the insanity of the Colorado GOP gubernatorial primary and the increasingly bitter Democratic Senate primary have gotten more attention, the GOP Senate primary contest between Jane Norton and Ken Buck has been a seemingly endless flinging of mud and ugliness. Like many other GOP races this year, each candidate is aiming to portraying themselves as the true conservative. Here are some of the nasty ads dominating the Colorado airwaves.

Ken Buck is the Tea Party favorite and has the endorsement of Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina while Senator John McCain is backing Jane Norton. The Denver Post has more on this race.

PA-07: GOP Candidate Challenging Tea Party Candidate's Petition Signatures
From Politico:

Republican Pat Meehan challenged the validity of tea party congressional candidate Jim Schneller’s candidacy on Monday, arguing that Democrats improperly helped him gather the signatures to put his name on the Pennsylvania ballot this fall as an independent.

In court documents, Meehan’s attorneys claimed that Schneller’s campaign “fraudulently induced” voters to sign his petitions by not disclosing the help he was getting from some Democrats.

“More than 4,800 signatures were gathered by Democratic Party leaders, Democratic activists and [Democratic nominee] Bryan Lentz campaign workers in a conspiracy to undermine the electoral process by propping up the sham candidacy of third party candidate” Schneller, the document states.

The challenge also raised objections to some signatures Meehan claims represent voters who are not registered in Pennsylvania’ 7th congressional district, some that were improperly notarized, and others that appear to be in identical handwriting.

“Fully 6,926 [signatures] are defective in at least one way, and often in multiple ways,” the Meehan campaign claimed.

In a telephone interview, Schneller said he was “mildly” surprised that the Republicans are challenging his candidacy.

“I believe they’ve taken a risk because of the number of signatures,” he said, noting that he collected nearly 8,000 signatures and he only needed 4,200 to get on the ballot.

Schneller said he wanted to review the legal challenge before commenting further on it.